Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wrote a couple of pages on this issue but I could have written a book on the state of school transport in north Kildare. The Minister knows how often I have been in touch with her about this, particularly about the 41 children from Rathcoffey and Straffan who are trying to get to school in Celbridge and Maynooth. She knows how often I have stopped her in the Chamber to tell her about the trouble these families are having because they cannot get a place on a school bus for their children. I tell her about the mothers like Anne-Marie and Michelle, who I was talking to earlier, who are worried about having to give up work to get their children to school. One of them told me she is a professional woman who has battled the corporate world to make it to the board and into top management. She is worried that with no bus ticket for her child, she may have to go part time to get her child to school. This is 2023 and a school transport issue is now an equality issue for that mother.

Is there any joined-up thinking? The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, was asked that question by a Government Deputy a couple of minutes ago. The Government is running a ridiculous "Why your journey counts" campaign while forcing families to put their children into cars to get them to school. It is not a farce; it is a three-ring circus of neglect, indifference and incompetence.

When I submit parliamentary questions the Department's responses are mortifying. They are cut-and-paste replies. They are so out of touch that I am embarrassed to send them to parents. We need an urgent review of school transport because the criteria, even when we know what they are, are out of date. On distance, the closest schools are often full and the admissions policy might exclude children. The so-called agreed selection process on concessionary tickets is a mystery. What process is agreed and with whom? Parents need to know.

The route between Straffan and Rathcoffey is served by a 58-seater and a 16-seater bus. If we had two 58-seater buses, it would sort out the problem for 41 children. The Minister of State was so gung ho about trying to get kudos for the free school bus plan last year that she neglected to ensure sufficient buses were available to implement it. In north Kildare, this has left 41 children paying the price for the Government's vanity, neglect, indifference and incompetence.

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